Discomfort.

A foundation number twice, adding up to a change; a new way of looking at life that has been developing inside my head for many years now. Something I almost had many years ago.

But nobody needs another confessional blog post. Another, “I’ve changed my life: here’s how” bit of self-referential bragging in the guise of ‘inspiring’ others. Such change is more profound, thus needs little more than a brief introduction, description, and conclusion.

Our culture has reached an apex; perhaps it reached that apex some fifty years ago, and has been white-knuckling those glory days since. This, I think, is more likely the case, as one can see it everywhere.

The wool has been steadfastly over our eyes for decades. This is what resonates within peoples’ minds as this strange election comes to (maybe) a close tonight: the subconscious knows that the players are pieces, symbolic in so many ways of our decline, our decadence, and our denial. As media outlets panic, and pundits write some of the most inane babble seen in many years, the collective conscious ciphers deep within itself that this election could, perhaps, burst the entire bubble of our comfort.

I only wish that it would.

The old cliches about mankind only finding the honor of himself in the midst of difficult times is without question truth. Historical records give us all the proof needed. In the midst of our comfort, as it does, reality interjects the seemingly impossible choice. The results have been fascinating, as this nation (and in many ways, the Western World) has been forced to feel something it believes it has ‘evolved’ beyond having to experience:

Discomfort.

The fact of this discomfort is as easy to see as the symbolism in our candidates. The stresses that people are feeling from this election are beyond the ken of the average, American citizen who feeds on television, Facebook, and Twitter. The ken is further made nebulous and useless by our Nemesis—our Monster Media—as people watch CNN, Fox, etc., et al, being fed, at best misinformation, at worst, outright narrative-shaping lies, the latter being more often than the former.

Thus, despite that so many simply cover their ears when faced with non-echo-chamber truths, no one can truly dismiss what faces America tonight, which is an uncomfortable choice, seemingly impossible to many. We’re feeling it, and there’s no other option. Reality demands.

Tomorrow morning, perhaps we’ll have the answer. If so, the useless will go back to being useless. They will make snarky tweets, Facebook posts, blog posts, and op-eds in now useless rags posing as journalism. They’ll rail about emotions they’re feeling, using pseudo-intellectual pabulum as thinly veiled attempts to mask their own useless rage. The actual fate of the nation is unimportant to them compared to the dopamine rushes they’ll be rewarded with for their screeds.

But for the remainder of the election tonight, the American people find themselves uncomfortable. And such a fate is mediocre in comparison to what we should be facing, given that we’ve allowed these serpents to slither into our midst and assume control. But discomfort it is, and America needs a lot more discomfort than it believes it’s feeling tonight.